Current Archaeology 436
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Current Archaeology’s June Listings: exhibitions, events, and heritage from home
There are lots of great ways to get involved with history and archaeology over the next few months, including exhibitions, lectures, and conferences exploring a wide range of subjects. If you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of your sofa, though, there is a variety of resources on offer online, too, from virtual site tours and digital offerings by museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Kathryn Krakowka has put together a selection of some of the options available.
Understanding Scottish Graveyards
This is the fourth edition of a book that was first published by Betty Willsher (1915-2012) in 1985, with subsequent updates in 1995 and 2005. The original publication came about due to
Paintings of Catholic saints returned to Chastleton House following conservation work
A fourth portrait – St Ambrose of Milan – has been missing since the early 20th century.
Weighing up the evidence: did Bronze Age Britons use gold as currency?
‘While gold would still have had an intrinsic value and probably could have been used for trading in any number of circumstances, it most likely wasn’t a generally recognised form of currency.’
Go digging!
While many volunteer excavations were mothballed during COVID-19 restrictions, this summer has plenty of opportunities for you to get involved in fieldwork. Carly Hilts and Emilie Clowry have put together some regional highlights of what is on offer for 2022, but see http://www.archaeology.co.uk/digs for even more options for archaeological experiences.
Iron Age coin database launched online
The Celtic Coin Index is more technologically advanced than its predecessors.
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Exhibitions, events, and heritage from home in Spring and Summer 2022
There are lots of great heritage-related opportunities to get out and about this spring, with conferences to attend, exhibitions to visit, and excavations to sign up for. Or, if you’d prefer, there are still many archaeology-, history-, and heritage-related resources and activities to enjoy at home, whether you’re looking for a virtual tour of an ancient Egyptian pyramid, a podcast about transatlantic shipwrecks, or online games designed for children. Amy Brunskill has put together a summary of some of the options available.
Finds tray – Roman vessel mount
This copper-alloy Roman vessel mount, produced sometime between AD 43 and AD 410, was found last year by a metal-detectorist on farmland near St Ives, Cornwall. The c.4.5cm-tall mount, most likely for
Feminine power: the divine to the demonic
The British Museum recently held a preview of their next exhibition, which is set to explore perceptions and depictions of women in mythology throughout history, across the globe. Carly Hilts reports on the upcoming displays, which will open next month.
Evensong: people, discoveries and reflections on the church in England
Review by Christopher Catling. Reading this book reminds me of the University of London’s Warburg Institute Library, which has a unique classification system designed by the library’s founder, Aby Warburg (1866-1929), to
UK museum news: Roman helmet goes on display and exhibition explores Tutankhamun’s childhood
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
The Mesolithic in Britain: landscape and society in times of change
Review by George Nash. The concept of a ‘Mesolithic’, a Middle Stone Age, has been with us since the early 1930s, and many thousands of sites dating to this period have been
A landscape through time
Last year, Historic England archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar to confirm the remains of Tudor and Jacobean formal gardens at Belhus Park in Thurrock, Essex, the site of a manor built in the
Back to the future: visiting Time Team’s first new digs in a decade
The popular archaeology series Time Team has returned with its first new episodes in a decade. Felix Rowe took Current Archaeology behind the scenes at two very different excavations, investigating Iron Age Cornwall and Roman Oxfordshire.
Bronze Age mound found under ‘lost’ Oxford college
‘No intact original human burials have been found but they are thought to be represented by the disarticulated skeletal remains.’
The World of Stonehenge
Review by HB. This accessible and richly informative book, produced to accompany the World of Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum (CA 384), treats Stonehenge as a ‘gateway’ into the interconnected worlds
News in brief: Roman burials and digital archaeology
Burials near Whitminster villa Ten human burials have been uncovered at a development site near Stroud in Gloucester (below), which Cotswold Archaeology is investigating ahead of the construction of new training pitches
Pictish symbol stone unearthed near Aberlemno
Archaeologists also found three pieces of late Neolithic or Bronze Age rock art bearing cup marks and spiral designs
The triumphal arch: exploring the legacy of a Roman monument
Dismissed by one distinguished architectural writer as a regrettable example of Roman pomposity, ‘typical of the rather pretentious magnificence of the [Roman] Empire’, the ‘triumphal arch’ (more correctly the ‘honorary arch’) has proved to be surprisingly enduring, with a history that extends from the Roman period to the present day. Chris Catling reviews a new book by Peter Howell tracing the history of the arch through its many manifestations.
The Great British Dig: history in your back garden
Review by CH. Those of us who enjoy relaxing of an evening with an episode or two of an archaeological TV show have been spoiled in recent years, with such tempting offerings